Room to Maneuver
for Arts and Culture

Building Structures – Strengthening Leadership

Many staff members in cultural organisations, particularly those with a background in the arts or humanities, were never prepared to take on leadership responsibilities. Consequently, many find this step particularly challenging. I felt the same way myself. That is why I have engaged intensively with issues of leadership and collaboration within organisations.

As a coach, I now support leaders within complex cultural systems in clarifying roles, making decisions and developing strategies. This also involves understanding leadership not as directives from above, but as an inner attitude and a shared development process. In this way, agile organisations can emerge that learn from within.

A central component of my consultancy work is the systemic analysis of organisations and markets. Constellations on the system board can be used to highlight roles and dynamics, communication patterns and areas of conflict. This reveals whether people are in the right positions, how hierarchy and power are handled, and which structures foster responsible collaboration.

As well as providing one-to-one coaching, I also work with groups. In seminars and training sessions, I address topics such as leadership and agility, communication and conflict management, stress management and resilience. This also includes supporting team-building and development processes, as well as facilitating workshops, retreats and similar formats in which organisations pool their knowledge and skills and harness them for joint decision-making.

The step from team development to mediation is often a small one. Where tensions are more pronounced, I also practise conflict management in this form: as a mediator, I work not only with individuals but also with teams, such as administrative or technical departments, workshops, sections of an orchestra or even the entire choir. The aim is to resolve deadlocked dynamics and find a new form of constructive collaboration.

In addition, I am also available for traditional consultancy services: when it comes to dramaturgy and public relations, I can draw on my expertise in musicology and my experience as a journalist. I support cultural organisations in the selection and induction of new staff. And during periods of transition or crisis, I take on leadership roles on an interim basis myself.